Principal Investigator(s):Mosher, Clayton, Washington State University, Department of Sociology; Phillips, Dretha, Washington State University, Social and Economic Sciences Research Center

Summary:

In 1996, Washington State's Department of Corrections (DOC)
implemented "New Horizons" (referred to as "First Chance" from its
inception in late 1996 to early 2000), a residential therapeutic
treatment community for drug-addicted women offenders housed within
the Pine Lodge Pre-Release minimum security and co-ed facility in the
northeastern part of the state. The target population for the program
was women who had been screened and identified as having a serious
substanc... (more info)

In 1996, Washington State's Department of Corrections (DOC)
implemented "New Horizons" (referred to as "First Chance" from its
inception in late 1996 to early 2000), a residential therapeutic
treatment community for drug-addicted women offenders housed within
the Pine Lodge Pre-Release minimum security and co-ed facility in the
northeastern part of the state. The target population for the program
was women who had been screened and identified as having a serious
substance abuse problem and who had 12 months or less to serve on
their sentences. Maximum capacity for this program was established at
72 treatment slots with members of the therapeutic community residing
together and separate from the rest of the general population. The
program approaches addiction as a biopsychosocial disease and strives
to restructure and develop pro-social cognitive, behavioral, and
affective skills of addicted women offenders. This study investigated
(1) factors that affected successful completion of the program, and
(2) outcomes (i.e., recidivism) for Pine Lodge participants compared
to outcomes for a control group. This project was funded by the
National Institute Justice as part of its initiative for local
evaluations of prison-based residential substance abuse treatment
programs. Data represent an outcome evaluation for Pine Lodge
residents compared to outcomes for a matched control group provided by
the Washington State Department of Corrections. Through a case-by-case
examination of the datasets from Pine Lodge and the Washington State
DOC, the researchers created a data file that contained program
completion/non-completion data and demographic variables for 322 Pine
Lodge participants and a control group of 279 women. Variables include
the month and year admitted to the Pine Lodge program, reason for
leaving the program, race/ethnicity, crime committed, month and year
started the program, sentence length, age, number of months in the
program, education level, number of previous offenses, number of
months at risk to reoffend, whether reconvicted after release, number
of months between release and reconviction, and reconviction offense.

Access to these data is restricted. Users interested in obtaining these data must complete a Restricted Data Use Agreement, specify the reasons for the request, and obtain IRB approval or notice of exemption for their research.

Universe:
Women with substance abuse problems incarcerated in
Washington State between 1996 and 2001.

Data Types:
administrative records data

Methodology

Study Purpose:
In 1996, Washington State's Department of
Corrections (DOC) implemented "New Horizons" (referred to as "First
Chance" from its inception in late 1996 to early 2000), a residential
therapeutic treatment community for drug-addicted women offenders
housed within the Pine Lodge Pre-Release minimum security and co-ed
facility in the northeastern part of the state. The target population
for the program was women who had been screened and identified as
having a serious substance abuse problem and who had 12 months or less
to serve on their sentences. Maximum capacity for this program was
established at 72 treatment slots with members of the therapeutic
community residing together and separate from the rest of the general
population. The program approaches addiction as a biopsychosocial
disease and strives to restructure and develop pro-social cognitive,
behavioral, and affective skills of addicted women offenders. This
study investigated (1) factors that affected successful completion of
the program, and (2) outcomes (i.e., recidivism) for Pine Lodge
participants compared to outcomes for a control group. This project
was funded by the National Institute of Justice as part of its
initiative for local evaluations of prison-based residential substance
abuse treatment programs.

Study Design:
Data represent an outcome evaluation for Pine
Lodge residents compared to outcomes for a matched control group
provided by the Washington State Department of Corrections. Through a
case-by-case examination of the datasets from Pine Lodge and the
Washington State DOC, the researchers created a data file that
contained program completion/non-completion data and demographic
variables for 322 Pine Lodge participants and a control group of 279
women.

Description of Variables:
Variables include the month and year admitted to
the Pine Lodge program, reason for leaving the program,
race/ethnicity, crime committed, month and year started the program,
sentence length, age, number of months in the program, education
level, number of previous offenses, number of months at risk to
reoffend, whether reconvicted after release, the number of months
between release and reconviction, and reconviction offense.